Introduction to Diving

Diving is an individual event which is generally the first event to take place at dual meets and takes place simultaneously with swimming events during championship meets.

Summary

For dual meets, each diver competes six dives. At championship meets, each diver will compete up to eleven dives. Each dive will receive three scores from the diving judges, which is summed and then multiplied by the degree of difficulty of the dive. The cumulative score after all the dives are completed are compared to determine the final rankings.

Dive Numbers

Each dive is identified by a dive number which describes how it should be performed.

Non-twisting dives have a three digit number followed by a letter, such as 201B. The first digit is the group (which indicates the direction of spin), the second digit is typically 0 (unless the dive is a “flying” dive, and then the digit will be 1)1, the third digit is the number of half-somersaults, and the final letter is the position.

Twisting dives have a four digit number followed by a letter, such as 5223D. The first digit is 5 (for the twister group), the second digit is the direction of spin, the third digit is the number of half-somersault, the fourth digit is the number of half-twists, and the final letter is the position.

Diving Groups and Direction of Spin

There are 5 diving groups that each correspond with a direction of spin.

Digit Diving Group Direction of Spin
1 Forward Facing out
Rotating forward
2 Backward Facing back
Rotating backward
3 Reverse Facing out
Rotating backward
4 Inward Facing back
Rotating forward
5 Twister Determined by the second digit in the dive number

Position of the Dive

There are four different dive positions that are each given a corresponding letter.

Letter Position Explanation
A Straight No bend at the knees or hips
B Pike Knees straight and bent at the hips
C Tuck Legs curled up into the body
D Free A combination of the other positions (used for twisting dives)

Dive Sheets

Dual Meets

Each diver at a dual meet must submit a dive sheet at the beginning of the meet with the dives they intend to compete signed by both the diver and a coach. To compete officially, a diver must compete 6 dives which meet the following criteria:

  • The first dive must be in the dive group of the week (explained below) and have a degree of difficulty of no more than 1.8.
  • The remaining five dives must cover 4 of the 5 dive groups.

Diving Schedule

There is a focus on a different dive group for each week of the season. The first dive of a diver’s dive sheet must be in that dive group. See the schedule for the list of dive weeks.

Dive Table

Each dive has an assigned degree of difficulty which acts as a multiplier on the scores given by the diving judges. The harder the dive, the higher the degree of difficulty. The table below lists the degree of difficulties for all of the allowed dives at the high school level.2

Dive No. Description T / C P / B S / A F / D
Forward Dives
101 Forward Dive 1.2 1.3 1.4
102 Forward 1 SS 1.4 1.5 1.6
103 Forward 1 ½ SS 1.6 1.7 1.6
104 Forward Double 1 SS 2.2 2.3
105 Forward 2 ½ SS 2.4 2.6 2.6
106 Forward Triple 1 SS 2.9 3.2
107 Forward 3 ½ SS 3.0 3.3
112 Forward Flying 1 SS 1.6 1.7
113 Forward Flying 1 ½ SSs 1.8 1.9
Back Dives
201 Back Dive 1.5 1.6 1.7
202 Back 1 SS 1.5 1.6 1.7
203 Back 1 ½ SS 2.0 2.3 2.5
204 Back Double 1 SS 2.0 2.3
205 Back 2 ½ SS 3.0 3.2
Reverse Dives
301 Reverse Dive 1.6 1.7 1.8
302 Reverse 1 SS 1.6 1.7 1.8
303 Reverse 1 ½ SS 2.1 2.4 2.7
304 Reverse Double 1 SS 2.1 2.4
305 Reverse 2½ SS 3.0 3.2
Inward Dives
401 Inward Dive 1.4 1.5 1.8
402 Inward 1 SS 1.6 1.7
403 Inward 1 ½ SS 2.2 2.4
404 Inward Double 1 SS 2.8 3.0
405 Inward 2 ½ SS 3.1 3.4
412 Inward Flying 1 SS 2.0 2.1
413 Inward Flying 1 ½ SS 2.7 2.9
Twist Dives
5111 Forward Dive ½ Twist 1.6 1.7 1.8
5112 Forward Dive 1 Twist 1.9 2.0
5121 Forward 1 SS ½ Twist 1.7
5122 Forward 1 SS 1 Twist 1.9
5124 Forward 1 SS 2 Twists 2.3
5126 Forward 1 SS 3 Twists 2.7
5131 Forward 1 ½ SS ½ Twist 2.0
5132 Forward 1 ½ SS 1 Twist 2.2
5134 Forward 1 ½ SS 2 Twists 2.6
5136 Forward 1 ½ SS 3 Twists 3.1
5142 Forward 1 1 SS 1 Twist 2.6 2.7
5152 Forward 2 ½ SS 1 Twist 3.0 3.2
5211 Back Dive ½ Twist 1.8
5212 Back Dive 1 Twist 2.0
5221 Back 1 SS ½ Twist 1.7
5222 Back 1 SS 1 Twist 1.9
5223 Back 1 SS 1 ½ Twists 2.3
5225 Back 1 SS 2 ½ Twists 2.7
5227 Back 1 SS 3 ½ Twists 3.2
5231 Back 1 ½ SS ½ Twist 2.1
5233 Back 1 ½ SS 1 ½ Twists 2.5
5235 Back 1 ½ SS 2 ½ Twists 2.9
5251 Back 2 ½ SS ½ Twist 2.7 2.9
5311 Reverse Dive ½ Twist 1.9
5312 Reverse Dive 1 Twist 2.1
5321 Reverse 1 SS ½ Twist 1.8
5322 Reverse 1 SS 1 Twist 2.0
5323 Reverse 1 SS 1 ½ Twists 2.4
5325 Reverse 1 SS 2 ½ Twists 2.8
5331 Reverse 1 ½ SS ½ Twist 2.2
5333 Reverse 1 ½ SS 1 ½ Twists 2.6
5335 Reverse 1 ½ SS 2 ½ Twists 3.0
5351 Reverse 2 ½ SS ½ Twists 2.7 2.9
5411 Inward Dive ½ Twist 1.7 2.0
5412 Inward Dive 1 Twist 1.9 2.2
5421 Inward 1 SS ½ Twist 1.9
5422 Inward 1 SS 1 Twist 2.1
5432 Inward 1 ½ SS 1 Twist 2.7
5434 Inward 1 ½ SS 2 Twists 3.1

  1. No flying dive has been competed at the high school level in years ↩

  2. https://www.nfhs.org/media/1020355/2023-24-one-meter-diving-table-with-video-clipsnew.pdf ↩